


Islanded in a Sea of Stars

by ArvisTaljik



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Gen, Journey Home, M/M, Stranded, Unknown Enemy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-16
Updated: 2013-09-04
Packaged: 2017-12-23 16:10:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/928502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArvisTaljik/pseuds/ArvisTaljik
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been 25 years since the end of the Reaper War and a new hero is stepping forward to take the reigns of a prototype experimental ship.  But will this ship's first mission be smooth and routine or will this be the beginning of a whole new adventure for this brave hero and his crew?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pre-Shakedown

**GNN News Report**  
 **Citadel Station, Earth Orbit**  
 **17 February 2211**  


As events marking the 25th anniversary of the end of the Reaper War continue both onboard the Citadel and down on Earth, the Galactic Alliance prepares to launch its newest and most advanced vessel in the fleet.  The _Trident SR-X_ is a brand new and state-of-the-art frigate design based upon the famous _SSV Normandy SR-2_ , which under the leadership of Commander John Shepard helped bring about the end of the most destructive conflict in galactic history.  It is expected that at some point over the next few days Alliance officials will announce the name of the appointed commanding officer of the _Trident_ , though many speculate that the decision has already been made.  GNN will be standing by in the coming days, ready to bring you the news of the announcement as soon as it is made.

In other news, Council elections for the new term begin in two weeks, with front-runner Solana Vakarian from the Turian Heirarchy meeting voters across the Citadel's wards.  Her campaign, run on a ticket promising further support for species equality and backing the inclusion of additional members to the council, has met with resounding support from turians and non-turians alike.

GNN will continue to bring you daily updates on the launch of the _Trident_ and on the election run-up as events unfold. Stay tuned!

 

 

 

**Citadel Station, Earth Orbit**  
 **Galactic Alliance Navy Headquarters, Presidium**  
 **1053 hours Galactic Standard**  
 **15 February 2211**

[Turian] "I'm not questioning his record but rather his over-famous adopted parents.  Many will see this as an attention-grab and continuation of a hero-legacy that should have been left to die years ago."

[Human] "Let them think what they want.  As far as this Command Council is concerned, Lieutenant Commander Shepard-Alenko is the most capable Command-eligible officer we have with the greatest amount of experience.  To say that he's followed in his fathers' footsteps is an understatement.  The Lieutenant Commander has achievements that go above-and-beyond the call of duty in all regards.  Short of bringing John Shepard back to command, he's the best we have!"

[Geth] "Shepard-Alenko-Commander is a singular prime candidate.  We have already reached consensus."

[Turian] "I will not stand here and let this decision, clouded by favoritism for a war hero, be made without due course! Hell, even the Geth are in on this!"

[Asari] "Please, everyone. This council has deliberated long enough.  It's time we made our decision and moved forward."

 

 

 

**Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Earth**  
 **0829 hours Local**  
 **17 February 2211**  


"I still can't believe it."

"What isn't there to believe? You're it Big-D!"

    Lieutenant Commander David Shepard-Alenko ran his hand over his buzzed hair in contemplation.  To say the last two weeks had been both stressful and unexpected would be an understatement.

    First had been an eight-hour long Command Board. He was sure it was the longest Command Board in history.  On top of that he hadn't even gotten a bathroom-break the entire time.  Being grilled for hours-on-in on eveyrthing from why he joined the armed forces, why he chose his career path, what he thought of current events, all the way to how he would handle hypothetical situations; one of the board members even asked him what his favorite color was.  How was that even relevant?

"Look, you made it and that's what matters."  The reassurance came from one Algherian, Lieutenant Tiber Rhesius, David's best friend and fellow N7 trainee.

"Besides, if you don't want the job then I'll damn well take it from you!"

"You wouldn't know the bow from the stern on a starship, let alone a prototype" David shot back. It was true that Rhesius was more of a "ground-pounder" than anything else and David enjoyed reminding him of it.

"Yeah, whatever. I could still do a better job than you could!" Rhesius teased.

    David placed his hands on Rhesius' shoulders mockingly. "Not in a million years man, not in a million years!"

"Alright, alright already. Let's just get through our N7 commissioning and then we can see what you're made of 'Commander'."

"That's not for another week."

"If you say so. It's as good as yours whether you believe it or not."

 

 

 

**Citadel Station, Earth Orbit**  
 **Galactic Alliance Offices, Presidium**  
 **0747 hours Galactic Standard**  
 **27 February 2211**  


"Great; crew selections..." David's voice trailed off. He wasn't looking forward to the ever-monotonous process of going through and selecting his command crew.

"What? Every ship goes through it when it's first launched." Rhesius stated matter-of-factly.

"You know my dad went through this process THREE times; twice on the same ship. One time he used a dossier list and the other two he just winged."

"Then I guess you could always wing it. Just call it the 'Shepard Way' or something." The statement was full of sarcasm, despite having its own merits.

"My dad would probably like that, but either way this should be interesting."

    It was then that the door chime rang, announcing someone's presence outside the office's main door.

"Get ready, here's the first one." said David, straightening his uniform slightly as he stood up. "Come in."

    The twin doors parted with a slight hiss revealing the massive frame of a Krogan.

    David raised an eyebrow, not realizing that any Krogan had made it onto the crew selection roster for interviews. "And you are?"

"Sarkus Mellax. I'm here for crew selections" came the distinctly Krogan-sounding reply. The reptilian promptly ambled his way forward and took a seat in the room's largest chair.

"You're Sarkus Mellax? Not exactly what I expected in an engineer." David looked toward Rhesius for affirmation which got him little more than a shrug and a nod.

"Hey, I'm the best damn engineer this side of the galaxy. Don't tell me you'd rather have some slimy Salarian frog trying to keep the Alliance's newest drive core in check hahahaha!" David could have sworn he'd heard a similar laugh before, but he couldn't place it at the moment.

"Sorry, like I said, you just weren't what I was expecting."  Gathering his wits about him, David took a seat at the desk depressing a small button to bring up the personnel files. "Well Mr. Mellax, your file shows that you've worked in the field of starship engineering for nearly 40 years though you've been involved in the reconstruction of Tuchanka for the past eight of them."

"Yeah, did some work on the new housing areas in the main cities. The previous project head kept feeding bullshit to the clan leaders about needing better materials in less time until I stepped in and helped them realize the guy was just an idiot." Mellax sounded rather self-satisfied as he recanted his previous job's 'hiring' method. "Anyway, I finished up what I had running there to get back into a ship. Can only take so much of that blasted planet anyways. The air is still as crappy as ever."

"So what makes you believe that you're the right fit here?"

"I'm the best there is, straight up. I've worked on every size drive core from fighters on up to dreadnoughts AND I'm fully read-up on the new Tantalus Mk.VII core." Mellax's finger was pointed directly toward's David's forehead.  "Let me put it another way; unless you want to blow your brand new ship up right out of space dock, you're gonna need me."

    David wasn't really sure how to take that, but at least this Krogan wasn't lacking for confidence. Although, most Krogan don't lack for confidence due simply to the fact that they're Krogan. Either way, this had the potential to go drastically wrong.

"I can't argue with your credentials or the work you've done, I'm really only worried about the rest of my engineers and whether or not you're going to, how do I put it, 'bump heads' with them."

"That's not the best way to say it" came Rhesius' unsolicited reply. "Krogan bump heads for a living."

"Ha, four-arms over here is right. But don't worry about your sensitive little engineers. I know how to behave myself around non-Krogan. Besides, cleaning brain splatter off the walls of an engine room isn't my idea of a good time." There was a half-cocked smirk that came to Mellax's face as he finished speaking.

"Then I guess Mr. Mellax, you have the next 72 hours to get yourself situated on board and become acclimated to the engineering staff and systems." David rose and extended his hand to the Krogan, who also rose and gripped it tightly in response.

"Good. Looks like you won't be committing suicide right out of the docks then, hahaha!"

    Mellax quickly turned and trodded back out of the office. Somehow the room now seemed bigger without the Krogan's reptilian bulk taking up extra space.

"What just happened?" asked Rhesius. "Did you just hire a Krogan to run the engine room?"

"Yes I did. Let’s just hope it's not my brain that's splattered on the walls of Main Engineering."

"Heard tell your dad put a few Krogan in their place back in the day. I'm sure you'll live, if only with a slight headache."

"Thanks for the support" David shot back as he punched Rhesius in the shoulder. "Who's next?"

"Well it looks like the prospective medical officer is next. It says here that he's Salarian."

"Great. Looks like I'll have to make sure Mellax stays out of sick bay..."

 

 

 

**Galactic Alliance Fitting Yards, Earth Orbit (San Francisco)**  
 **1937 hours Galactic Standard**  
 **28 February 2211**  


    David walked with purpose down the corridor of the fitting yard leading to the airlocks. It was now just under 24 hours from the scheduled launch and shake-down and he was nearly ready to pass out from exhaustion.

    In the past few days David had barely found the time to sleep.  He’d been spending most of his time either conducting crew interviews or signing any number of myriad requisition forms for supplies and materiel.  However, with the launch coming up in less than a day, he was determined to get some decent shut-eye.

    As he rounded the corner to the main airlock, David keyed in on what seemed to be the end of a rather high-energy chewing-out session. And from a Krogan no less.

“Listen you half-wit! These are high-performance TM-97 sublight engines, not the grav engine on the cheap piece of crap you call a car!  You are GOING to replace the heat exchangers with model X-107’s or so help me I’m going to toss your ass through the nearest window into space!”

    David felt, in the best interest of the technician being berated, that stepping in would be a good idea.

“Mellax, everything going okay here?”

“Yeah, peachy.  It’s just that these yard workers couldn't tell the difference between a primary FTL charge coil and an inertial dampener to save their puny lives.  Go on, get moving!” Mellax waved the technician off.  The tech quickly turned and double-timed down the gangway, perverbial tail tucked between his legs.

“Anyways, we should be good for tomorrow so long as that piss-ant gets me the parts I need.”

“Anything else I should know about?” David queried.

“Nah.  Everything else is good to go.  We’re as ready as we’re going to be for launch tomorrow.”

    A dull orange light began flashing on David’s wrist as his omni-tool indicated he had an incoming message.

“Well let me know if you need anything else for engineering.  I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yeah, see ya.”

    David keyed the light on his omni-tool, bringing up a small image transmission.  The face in that image certainly wasn’t one that he was expecting to receive a call from, especially now.  But the stern expression and no-nonsense demeanor told him that something was amiss and that this call would be serious.

“Admiral Zorah, what can I do for you?”

    Admiral Tali’Zorah vas Normandy.  One of his fathers’ teammates both before, during, and after the Reaper War.  She had been made an Admiral by the Quarians at the start of the Reaper War but life after the war, with the reconstruction of Rannoch proceeding smoothly and on schedule, had led to her appointment to the then newly-formed Galactic Alliance Navy Command Council.  Her position was one she had earned both through knowledge and action and her rise in authority had been supported by everyone around her.

“Commander, I need you to link into a secure comm line.  I need to brief you on a situation in the fringe worlds.”

 

“Yes ma’am, I’ll be aboard the  _Trident_ momentarily.” David responded as he keyed off his omni-tool.

    Quickly making his way through the airlock and to _Trident’s_ central lift, he keyed the selection for the CIC.  Unlike in older ships who elevators were known to be slow to the point of nearly moving backwards, the _Trident_ had been equipped with a central elevator that utilized micro-gravity accelerators for movement, meaning a significantly increased operation speed.

    Several moments later the lift arrived in CIC and the doors parted unceremoniously.  The CIC was nearly deserted, only a few auxiliary consoles still lit and active.  Moving past the galaxy map and ship status consoles, David stepped into the adjoining rear passageway which led to the ship’s conference room.

    Upon stepping inside, David keyed his omni-tool to link with the ship's communications network.  A split-second later, an image of Admiral Zorah appeared above the conference room table.

“We’re secure Admiral, what’s going on?”

“Commander, as you know we’ve been sending survey flotillas and colonization fleets out through newly discovered Mass Relays in the fringe systems of known space.” The Admiral’s tone was serious and David felt as though he was supposed to be bracing for some kind of startling news. “Nine days ago our colonization and survey fleet passing through a newly charted Mass Relay beyond Batarian space failed to check back in after proceeding through the relay.  A local system defense vessel from the Systems Alliance moved through the relay to assist two days later, but that ship has also not reported back.”

    David had heard his fair share of horror stories about exploring new Mass Relays and the risks involved.  It was always a possibility that you could get dropped right smack in the middle of a solar system full of hostile aliens or you could get flung head-long into a collapsing black hole.  Something told him that this situation was encroaching upon those very possible, though statistically unlikely, horrors.

“Are you saying you’re sending us on a mission right out of space dock Admiral?”

“It comes down to this Commander, we need to get a ship through that Relay that’s as prepared as possible for whatever could be waiting on the other side.  We can’t just leave 36 ships worth of people out there alone.”

 

“Admiral, the _Trident_ hasn’t even completed a shake-down run yet and I’m not sure this new of a ship and crew is ready for that kind of mission.”  David wasn’t sure if she’d take that as a sign of weakness or just his pragmatism asserting itself, but he was hoping it would be the latter.

“The _Trident_ will have two days en-route for shake-downs before you get to the relay in question.  You’ll have that long to ensure things are working properly before you head through.  In addition, we’re going to be loading the _Trident_ with several experimental communications buoys which can be remote operated in hopes of improving your ability to communicate back to us.”

“Understood Admiral, I’ll let my crew know first thing in the morning.  I assume our launch schedule hasn’t changed?”  If they had to launch sooner than expected then David wasn’t sure how their shake-down run would go without the final parts Mellax insisted he needed for engineering.

“No, Commander, your schedule hasn’t changed.  However, you are hereby ordered not to mention the nature of your mission to anyone outside your command staff, your fathers included.”

“Yes ma’am. Any particular reason?”

“None that I can share with you at the moment, but suffice it to say that they will be notified in due course.  Now Commander, I’d say you need to get some sleep before you depart tomorrow.”

“I will do that Admiral.  _Trident_ out.”  David keyed the display on the conference room table and the image dissolved out of existence.

    Great, now he was going to have to brief his crew on a new mission about which they knew nearly nothing other than “be prepared for anything.”

    David rubbed his head hard.  “Rhes is going to pitch a fit over this.”


	2. Launch

**Galactic Alliance Fitting Yards, Earth Orbit (San Francisco)**   
**0831 hours Galactic Standard**   
**1 March 2211**

David walked into the conference room, his favorite mug in hand. He’d never found coffee to have much draw for him but now was as good a time as any to try it out.

Looking around the room he took stock of the personnel present. Mellax was in the back corner, with his arms crossed, looking typically Krogan. Velara T’diia, the Asari stellar cartographer and head of sciences, was standing on the left side of the table speaking with the ship’s pilot, one Lieutenant Aaron Warga, who seemed a bit more interested in her than the conversation they were having. Next to them stood the silent and studious visage of their resident Geth, going by the name “Relic”, who seemed to be entering some piece of information into his omni-tool. Across the table stood the ship’s doctor, the Salaraian Chalak Solus, who was speaking to the ship’s head of security Prell Nenius, a Turian of former Turian Hierarchy employ. Lastly, leaning against the wall rail just inside the door was Rhesius, present in his position as executive officer and ground operations coordinator.

With the senior staff all present and accounted for, it looked like David was as ready as he was going to be to break the news. Setting his cup down on the table, he cleared his throat to gain everyone’s attention. Once they had all turned their attention to him, Rhesius stepping up to the table at his side, he addressed them as a group.

“I know this seems like a tall order for a brand new ship with a brand new crew, but yesterday Admiral Zorah of the Command Council officially assigned the Trident to her first mission, which is to commence immediately upon our departure from the yards this afternoon.”

“Sir, you know we still haven’t shaken the bugs out of the systems, right?” came Lieutenant Warga’s quick reply. “I don’t even know if this will turn right or left when I wiggle the ‘joystick’...”

The flight lieutenant was rather well known for his piloting skills and his need to voice whatever it was he happened to be thinking at the moment. Some found it refreshing while others found it down-right insubordinate. Either way, it was tolerated due to his extensive piloting experience which included flight time in shuttles, fighters, and gunships.

“The Admiral gave us two days en-route to our mission location to work out any kinks in the ship’s systems and make ready to face anything we may come across.” David just hoped that they were buying is quasi-confidence; otherwise this was going to be an interesting two days. “Mellax, is the engine room ready to go?”

“Yeah, I got those parts I needed last night,” came the Krogan’s gravelly reply. “My guys will have them installed and power-tested before we launch.”

“Good.” At least one piece of good news thus far. “Velara, what’s the status of sciences?”

“We’ve finished calibrating the navigational sensors and the development lab is in full working order.” The Asari’s smooth voice seeming to lend a calming aire to the room. “My personnel are all onboard and anxious to begin.”

“Shepard-Alenko-Commander, there is a situation we wish to make you aware of” stated the Relic matter-of-factly. “There is a 2.6% variance present in the ship’s inertial dampeners which may cause undue discomfort to the ship’s crew. While this is not a mission-cancelling concern, we believed you would want to be… informed.”

“Aww, the tin-can cares.” Mellax broke in. “Don’t worry, we’re well within tolerance and I’ll see if I can’t get that down another percent before we launch. Wouldn’t want everyone’s lunch flying around the ship, hahaha!”

“Thank you Relic.” This was certainly going to be an interesting two-day shake-down. “Any concerns from security?” asked David as he turned to Prell.

“Nothing at the moment. We have all of the body armor and personal weapons onboard, in addition to the communications buoys you said to expect.” The Turian spoke as though he wished to be the model of efficiency and protocol aboard the ship. David wondered if he and Relic would bump heads at some point. “Security personnel have already reported onboard and are ready for launch.”

“Thank you, Doctor?”

“Medical bay very well equipped. Top-notch. Everything in order. Nurse a bit eclectic, but shouldn’t be a problem.” If Chalak considered his nurse eclectic, then David could only wonder what he thought of himself. Being the nephew of Mordin Solus, famous for his part in helping his fathers during the Collector incident and Reaper War, it would appear that his speech patterns were something that ran in the Solus family’s bloodline. “Human term, “ready when you are,” seems appropriate.”

“Rhesius, anything from your end?” David addressed his XO.

“Looks like we have everything we need. Our embarked craft are onboard in the shuttle bay to include one Mantis Mk IV gunship and two Kodiaks. Provisions are full and we have our crew aboard.” Rhesius ticked off the fingers on the primary right hand as he ran down the list. “I’ll double-check everything and give you a final report before we get underway this afternoon.”

David relaxed a bit, realizing that he had been holding his shoulders tensed for the duration of the meeting. Something told him that everyone here seemed to be taking their posts quite seriously and that he had very little to worry about, at least as far as his crew was concerned.

“Alright then. It looks like we have everything in order. Our departure is scheduled for 1800 hours galactic standard. We’ll have media present on the yards but they’ve been instructed to remain off the ship.” David hoped that there wouldn’t be any pushy reporters attempting to gain the upper hand scoop on the ship and its mission. “With that, everyone’s dismissed. Keep up the good work people.”

David hung back, watching as everyone left the room and went off to their respective workspaces. Rhesius could tell that the Commander seemed a bit more relaxed now than when he had entered the room.

“Don’t worry, they’re good people and they know what they’re doing” Rhesius reassured.

“It’s not them I’m worried about” came David’s semi-sullen reply.

“You’ll do great. You were the top grad from our N7 class and only five of us even made it through. You’ve been just about everywhere in the Alliance AND to top it off you have famous parents. You’re golden in my book.”

“Laying it on thick so soon? If I didn’t know better I’d think you were bucking for a promotion already.” David stated, raising an eyebrow.

“Nah, certainly not bucking for a promotion.”

Finishing his statement, Rhesius departed the room, leaving David with his thoughts.

“Here goes nothing” David thought to himself as he grabbed his cup and headed out of the room.

 

**Galactic Alliance Fitting Yards, Earth Orbit (San Francisco)**   
**1740 hours Galactic Standard**   
**1 March 2211**

“Make sure you get those impellers synched properly” came Mellax’ emphatic order. “I don’t want to go flying around the room as soon as the engines engage.”

Mellax was still getting used to working with a mostly human engineering staff but they seemed to be warming up to his “winning” Krogan personality. The Asari sublight specialist on the other hand didn’t seem to mind one way or the other about him. He wondered to himself if she had experienced something in the past which made her indifferent to his presence or if that was just her personality. Either way, finding out would have to wait until later.

“Alright everyone, clear the reactor room and close the safety doors. Beginning reactor start-up sequence.”

Mellax keyed the controls in front of him and the heavy safety door leading to the ship’s Tantalus drive core slowly slid into place. He keyed the next sequence of controls and then turned to look through the door’s observation port.

A second later, bolts of blue lighting could be seen jumping between the core and the surrounding bulkhead emplacements as the electrical charge built up. With a spectacular flash, the element zero core ignited, sending a reassuring hum throughout the ship.

“Core reading stable, start-up confirmed” stated an engineer from one of the side consoles.

“Good, now let’s get the power transfer conduits charged and get ready to detonate this sticked-ice cream cart hahaha.” Mellax thought he was quite clever at that one.

“I believe the correct term is ‘blow this popsicle stand’ if memory serves.” Asari or not, Mellax now believed she was at least part smart-ass.

“Yeah whatever. Report up to the bridge and let them know we’re set down here.”

* * *

“Sir, engineering reports ready for departure” said Lieutenant Warga from the pilot’s seat in the bridge.

David was standing at the captain’s console just behind the pilot’s seat. Though the bridge was mostly based upon that of the older Normandy SR-2, it had been enlarged by two meters lengthwise to allow for the installation of additional systems to include a captain’s console and an enhanced piloting control interface.

“Alright Lieutenant, bring sub-light engines online.” David gestured over the console, filing through the various status reports from individual departments that were reported up.

The console itself was situated in the center of a squared U-shaped hand rail designed to be used for stability purposes during combat operations. A previous “failing” of the previous design is that anyone standing on the bridge lacked a sufficient location to hold onto when the ship was moving other than the backs of the chairs. At least the new rail offered some options for those standing on the bridge, ship’s commander included.

“Our course out-system is clear and Citadel control has approved our departure” Velara reported from the navigation console.

Seconds later they all felt the frame of the ship vibrate slightly as the sub-light engines hummed to life.

“Engines online, docking clamps disengaged, we’re ready to head out sir” said the Lieutenant as he activated the piloting control systems. “Traffic vector clear.”

“Alright then Lieutenant, take us out.”

The sleek frame of the Trident slowly began its forward motion, free for the first time from the fitting berth. Cameras flashed in the viewing ports of the berth, documenting the launch of this cutting-edge experimental vessel. As her shape pulled away, the cameras watched, the form of the Trident growing smaller and smaller in their view until nothing was left but a small light slowly fading towards the outer solar system.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter I know, but the first taste of action hits in the next chapter, so stay tuned.

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place after what is known as the “Mass Effect Happy Ending Mod” for PC (or MEHEM for short). There’s a YouTube video of the mod that’s easy to find. Mshenko option of course. :P
> 
> Historical Note: I decided to unite the races of the galaxy, such as we know them, under the banner of a Galactic Alliance based on the Citadel which is still in orbit of Earth. The individual governments of all the existing races are still in place but administer issues specific to their own worlds and provide local defenses only. The Galactic Alliance takes care of inter-planetary and galaxy-wide issues and maintains the bulk of the galaxy’s military forces. Members include Humans, Turians (also represent the Volus), Asari, Salarians, Krogan, Elcor, Batarians, Quarians, and the Geth. Provisionary members include the Vorcha (though very few Vorcha are interested in such things as politics) and Algherians. Additionally, the N-classification program from the Systems Alliance was transferred to the Galactic Alliance. This story may or may not utilize Council Spectres; I haven’t decided yet but one could always pop up down the line.
> 
> Lieutenant Tiber Rhesius is an Algherian from the world of Valtorr, a custom race/world for this story. Background is that their world was ‘found’ approximately 5 years after the events of Mass Effect 3 via relay exploration and they became provisional members of the Galactic Alliance several years thereafter. Algherians are four-armed, reddish-tan skinned reptilian-derived humanoids averaging 2m in height with strong, muscular builds. They have bony ridges on their cheeks, a flat nose, head scales similar in shape to those of Turians though much shorter, and hair only on the backs of their heads.
> 
> Additionally: Yes, you read correctly, I'm going to have to come up with 36 ship names (potentially...) and I'm not looking forward to that prospect. That said, I'm more than happy to take ship name suggestions from readers. The survey fleet is made up of the following ships with the one "rescue" ship:
> 
> 4x Kowloon-class Freighters  
> 2x Athabasca-class Freighters (1 is a Galactic Express shipping vessel)  
> 2x Athabasca-class Modified Fuel Freighters  
> 1x Quarian Long-Range Botanical Cultivation Vessel  
> 2x Quarian Patrol Frigates  
> 3x Heavy Trans-atmospheric Shuttles  
> 2x Mobile Dock Ships (can handle up to Frigate-class vessels)  
> 1x Ark-class Colony Ship  
> 2x Modular Scientific Survey Ships  
> 1x Waste-processing Ship  
> 2x Mobile Manufacturing Ships  
> 6x Passenger Vessels  
> 3x Batarian Freighters  
> 1x Geth Cruiser  
> 3x Turian Logistics Transports  
> 1x Turian Frigate  
> and  
> 1x Systems Alliance Local Defense Carrier (built on a Heavy Cruiser hull)


End file.
